A BILL to amend and reenact §17C-15-26 of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to allowing vehicles
designated by the Secretary of the Department of Military
Affairs and Public Safety for emergency response by West
Virginia police reserves to use red flashing lights.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That §17C-15-26 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:

ARTICLE 15. EQUIPMENT.

§17C-15-26. Special restrictions on lamps.

(a) Any lighted lamp or illuminating device upon a motor
vehicle other than head lamps, spot lamps, auxiliary lamps or
flashing front-direction signals which projects a beam of light of
an intensity greater than three hundred candlepower shall be so
directed that no part of the beam will strike the level of the
roadway on which the vehicle stands at a distance of more than
seventy-five feet from the vehicle.

(b) No person may drive or move any vehicle or equipment upon
any highway with any lamp or device on the vehicle displaying other
than a white or amber light visible from directly in front of the
center of the vehicle except as authorized by subsection (d) of
this section.

(c) Except as authorized in subsections (d) and (f) of this
section and authorized in section nineteen of this article,
flashing lights are prohibited on motor vehicles: Provided, That
any vehicle as a means for indicating right or left turn or any
vehicle as a means of indicating the same is disabled or otherwise
stopped for an emergency may have blinking or flashing lights.

(d) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, the
following colors of flashing warning lights are restricted for the
use of the type of vehicle designated:

(1) Blue flashing warning lights are restricted to police
vehicles. Authorization for police vehicles shall be designated by
the chief administrative official of each police department.

(2) Except for standard vehicle equipment authorized by
section nineteen of this article, red flashing warning lights are
restricted to the following:

(A) Ambulances;

(B) Fire fighting vehicles;

(C) Hazardous material response vehicles;

(D) Industrial fire brigade vehicles;

(E) Rescue squad vehicles not operating out of a fire
department;

(F) School buses;

(G) Class A vehicles, as defined by section one, article ten,
chapter seventeen-a of this code, of those firefighters who are
authorized by their fire chiefs to have the lights;

(H) Class A vehicles of members of duly chartered rescue
squads not operating out of a fire department;

(I) Class A vehicles of members of ambulance services or duly
chartered rescue squads who are authorized by their respective
chiefs to have the lights;

(J) Class A vehicles of out-of-state residents who are active
members of West Virginia fire departments, ambulance services or
duly chartered rescue squads who are authorized by their respective
chiefs to have the lights;

(L) Vehicles designated by the Secretary of the Department of
Military Affairs and Public Safety for emergency response or
emergency management by the Division of Corrections, Regional Jail
and Correctional Facility Authority, Division of Juvenile Services
and Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management; and

(M) Class A vehicles of emergency response, or emergency
management personnel or police reserves as designated by the
Secretary of the Department of Military Affairs and Public Safety
and the county commission of the county of residence.

Red flashing warning lights attached to a Class A vehicle may
be operated only when responding to or engaged in handling an
emergency requiring the attention of the firefighters, members of
the ambulance services or chartered rescue squads.

(3) The use of red flashing warning lights is authorized as
follows:

(A) Authorization for all ambulances shall be designated by
the Department of Health and Human Resources and the sheriff of the
county of residence.

(B) Authorization for all fire department vehicles shall be
designated by the fire chief and the State Fire Marshal's office.

(C) Authorization for all hazardous material response vehicles
and industrial fire brigades shall be designated by the chief of
the fire department and the State Fire Marshal's office.

(D) Authorization for all rescue squad vehicles not operating
out of a fire department shall be designated by the squad chief,
the sheriff of the county of residence and the Department of Health
and Human Resources.

(E) Authorization for school buses shall be designated as set
out in section twelve, article fourteen of this chapter.

(F) Authorization for firefighters to operate Class A vehicles
shall be designated by their fire chiefs and the State Fire
Marshal's office.

(G) Authorization for members of ambulance services or any
other emergency medical service personnel to operate Class A
vehicles shall be designated by their chief official, the
Department of Health and Human Resources and the sheriff of the
county of residence.

(H) Authorization for members of duly chartered rescue squads
not operating out of a fire department to operate Class A vehicles
shall be designated by their squad chiefs, the sheriff of the
county of residence and the Department of Health and Human
Resources.

(I) Authorization for out-of-state residents operating Class
A vehicles who are active members of a West Virginia fire
department, ambulance services or duly chartered rescue squads
shall be designated by their respective chiefs.

(J) Authorization for West Virginia Department of Agriculture
emergency response vehicles shall be designated by the Commissioner
of the Department of Agriculture.

(K) Authorization for vehicles for emergency response or
emergency management by the Division of Corrections, Regional Jail
and Correctional Facility Authority, Division of Juvenile Services
and Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management shall be
designated by the Secretary of the Department of Military Affairs
and Public Safety.

(L) Authorization for Class A vehicles of emergency response,
or emergency management personnel or police reserves as designated
by the Secretary of the Department of Military Affairs and Public
Safety and the county commission of the county of residence.

(4) Yellow or amber flashing warning lights are restricted to
the following:

(A) All other emergency vehicles, including tow trucks and
wreckers, authorized by this chapter and by section twenty-seven of
this article;

(B) Postal service vehicles and rural mail carriers, as
authorized in section nineteen of this article;

(C) Rural newspaper delivery vehicles;

(D) Flag car services;

(E) Vehicles providing road service to disabled vehicles;

(F) Service vehicles of a public service corporation;

(G) Snow removal equipment;

(H) School buses; and

(I) Automotive fire apparatus owned by a municipality or other
political subdivision, by a volunteer or part-volunteer fire
company or department or by an industrial fire brigade.

(5) The use of yellow or amber flashing warning lights shall
be authorized as follows:

(A) Authorization for tow trucks, wreckers, rural newspaper
delivery vehicles, flag car services, vehicles providing road
service to disabled vehicles, service vehicles of a public service
corporation and postal service vehicles shall be designated by the
sheriff of the county of residence.

(B) Authorization for snow removal equipment shall be
designated by the Commissioner of the Division of Highways.

(C) Authorization for school buses shall be designated as set
out in section twelve, article fourteen of this chapter.

(D) Authorization for automotive fire apparatus shall be
designated by the fire chief in conformity with the NFPA 1901
Standard for Automotive Fire Apparatus as published by the National
Fire Protection Association (NFPA) on July 18, 2003, and adopted by
the State Fire Commission by legislative rule (87 CSR 1, et seq.),
except as follows:

(i) With the approval of the State Fire Marshal, used
automotive fire apparatus may be conformed to the NFPA standard in
effect on the date of its manufacture or conformed to a later NFPA
standard; and

(ii) Automotive fire apparatus may be equipped with blinking
or flashing headlamps.

(e) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section,
any vehicle belonging to a county board of education, an
organization receiving funding from the state or Federal Transit
Administration for the purpose of providing general public
transportation or hauling solid waste may be equipped with a white
flashing strobotron warning light. This strobe light may be
installed on the roof of a school bus, a public transportation
vehicle or a vehicle hauling solid waste not to exceed one-third
the body length forward from the rear of the roof edge. The light
shall have a single clear lens emitting light three hundred sixty
degrees around its vertical axis and may not extend above the roof
more than six and one-half inches. A manual switch and a pilot
light must be included to indicate the light is in operation.

(f) It is unlawful for flashing warning lights of an
unauthorized color to be installed or used on a vehicle other than
as specified in this section, except that a police vehicle may be
equipped with either or both blue or red warning lights.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow vehicles designated
by the Secretary of the Department of Military Affairs and Public
Safety for emergency response by West Virginia police reserves to
use red flashing lights.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.